


maybe's all we got, baby

by tornfromroyalty



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Agender Kageyama, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxiety Disorder, Genderfluid Yamaguchi, Multi, Panic Attacks, Trans Character, Trans Characters, Trans boy Hinata, bigender asahi, bigender bokuto, demiboy oikawa, demiboy tsukki, trans boy iwaizumi, trans boy kenma, trans boy noya, trans boy suga, trans girl ennoshita, trans girl kiyoko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-03-15 23:10:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3465509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tornfromroyalty/pseuds/tornfromroyalty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daichi should maybe try to find that nearly naked pretty guy from last night’s number and maybe Suga needs to stop accidentally letting that stupid cat run loose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. so maybe you need warmer pajamas

**Author's Note:**

> so this is the obligatory college au that everyone writes at some point and it's not gonna be sad (like one sad chapter and that's it) and everyone lives happily ever after okay don't expect a lot of angst it's gonna be cheesy

“Maybe you should call your old roommate, then, captain. You could probably get them to help you carry your stuff up.”

“Hey, asshole, I’m not dragging Asahi out of bed at one in the morning when you are awake and fully capable of getting down here and helping. You _are_ my new roommate,” Daichi hissed, sliding out of his car and into the frigid winter air.

“Hmm… nah. Kenma’s over and I don’t wanna wake him up. Just carry it all inside and then put it in the elevator. I _guess_ I can help you from the elevator to the room,” Kuroo’s voice cracked through Daichi’s crappy phone. Daichi could practically feel Kuroo smirking through the phone.

“I’m coming up there, asshole, I don’t care if Kenma’s there. He’s not the one who needs to get his ass down here,” Daichi growled, “So get a jacket on or else I’ll drag you out here without one when I get up there.”

Daichi snapped his phone shut, shoving it into the pocket of his jeans with a huff.

Kuroo may be his best and oldest friend, but he was still an asshole. And Daichi _really_ didn’t want to have to drag all of his stuff up to their new room by himself at _one in the goddamn morning_.

Rounding the corner towards the front entrance of their dorm building, Daichi pulled his key card out of his pocket and brushed his feet off on the university mat in front of the door before opening it.

Daichi nearly jumped a foot in the air when he heard rustling in the bushes behind him.

Whipping around to look at the old rhododendron bushes, his heart stopped when a pale figure stood up behind them, holding a body in their arms.

Daichi’s voice was caught in his throat and he gawked as they stepped around the bush, holding the little carcass to their chest.

“Umm, don’t hurt me,” Daichi squeaked, holding out his keycard in defense against the ghostly maybe-serial killer in front of him.

They stopped just as they stepped into the light of the building’s porch, their silvery hair glowing in the dim, white light.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” they smiled, a pretty set of white teeth showing behind ridiculously pink lips.

Daichi was speechless again, and this time it wasn’t because he thought someone was going to kill him.

The person laughed, shifting the little body to one arm and extending their hand.

“Sorry about that. I’m not exactly presentable enough right now to stand out in the open,” they said, and Daichi noticed that they wore only a tank top and boxers despite the snowy cold that had arrived as the sun set.

“Uh, no, you’re good,” Daichi croaked, shaking their hand and almost jumping again at how frozen it was.

“I’m Suga, not just the stupid guy in his pajamas outside in the middle of December,” he grinned again, brushing a hand through his hair, “And you are?”

Daichi blinked and then blurted, “Daichi. Sawamura Daichi.”

Suga laughed, a sound so pure and sweet that Daichi felt his entire thought process halt in favor of just listening to it and gaping at how fucking _gorgeous_ Suga was.

“Do you go here?” Daichi said quickly, nearly smacking himself at how ridiculous that question was.

Suga bit his lower lip in an attempt to hold in another smile and said, “No, I just like to hang around random universities in my underwear with my cat. Thanks for asking.”

Daichi stuttered out an apology and blushed when Suga giggled, shifting the body- the _cat_ \- in his arms to cover his mouth with his other hand.

“You’re fine. I’m the one who got himself locked out of the dorm at midnight, you know?”

Daichi laughed nervously, trying to force the blush off of his face before Suga noticed. The light may have been dim, but he probably looked like a traffic light at this point, and red was _not_ Daichi’s color.

“I think you were about to go into the building? I’d really like to get inside, you know?” Suga coughed, shivering for emphasis.

Daichi nodded, turning quickly to slide his card through the scanner and pull the door open for the other boy.

“Uh, sorry about that,” Daichi mumbled, his gaze drifting to Suga’s choice of underwear and suddenly stopping.

 _This asshole had little pink hearts on his boxers_.

Daichi snapped his head up and met Suga’s hazel eyes, his own eyes wide and probably bloodshot from exhaustion.

Suga laughed at him, a suddenly common occurrence, and set his cat down, brushing damp, rusty orange and black fur off of his arms.

The tiny cat deadpanned up at Suga for putting him down, then absolutely glared at Daichi, blue eyes like icy knives.

“Oh, Nicki, leave Daichi-san alone,” Suga chided, kneeling to pet the angry little fluffball, “Sorry, she’s not a big fan of the cold.”

Nicki merely growled, pushing her head against Suga while still maintaining an angry look at Daichi.

“Her name’s Nicki?” Daichi said, the name sounding weird for a little kitten.

Suga grinned. “Yeah, my roommate _really_ likes Nicki Minaj. I suggested Baby, because her meows sound like an infant crying, but he insisted. It’s not a bad name, though.”

Daichi nodded, and the cat looked away from him to curl herself around Suga’s arm, purring contently.

Apparently no one liked Daichi today. Not even a cat.

“So do _you_ go here? You look sorta familiar, but I’ve never seen you in here before,” Suga asked, picking Nicki back up and looking at Daichi.

“Yeah, I used to live over by the Horned Owl,” Daichi muttered, thinking of the long nights he’d spent at the 24-hour coffee shop, “But my roommate’s boyfriend moved in and it was a little crowded. I’m moving in here tomorrow. Just stopped to get my new roommate to help me carry stuff.”

Suga smiled, eyes lighting up. “Oh, that’s nice- Nicki, don’t bite my fingers- I thought I had seen you before. You’re Sunday night triple shot espresso with no milk or sugar, aren’t you?”

Daichi raised an eyebrow, wondering how Suga knew the drink that he tended to get on Sunday nights before studying for a big test on Monday.

“I hang out there with friends, sometimes. But I get _normal_ drinks, you know?” Suga winked, giggling.

Daichi’s mouth dropped, and then he smirked. “Hey, Monday tests are awful enough for those kinds of drastic measures.”

Suga shifted Nicki to rest against his hip, his bare feet shuffling a little against the tile.

“Oh, you probably want to get to bed, huh?” Daichi mumbled, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

Suga sighed, “Yeah, I’ve got a 7 AM class tomorrow. That’ll be brutal. If only Nicki here didn’t enjoy running out of the dorm so much, maybe I’d get a full night of sleep sometimes.”

Daichi smiled sympathetically, knowing the dreadful feeling of only being able to fit a class in at some ungodly hour of the morning.

“Well, I’m heading up. You taking the elevator?” Suga asked, walking away.

Daichi hummed, skipping to catch up and walking to the elevator.

Suga pressed the little green button, smiling as the doors popped open immediately, as if they’d been waiting for hours to do something.

Because really, why would anyone need the elevator at one in the morning on a Tuesday night?

As they got in and Suga pressed the button for floor 4, Daichi asked, “You said you got stuck out there at midnight. Were you stuck out there for an hour?”

Suga frowned. “Yeah. When I ran out to catch Nicki, she fled down the stairs, and then jumped outside where someone left a window open for some reason. I left my phone and keys upstairs, and my roommate’s not going to be home for another hour or two, so I was just hoping that _someone_ was going to need to get in. You saved me from frostbite, Daichi-san,” Suga smiled angelically, making Daichi’s heart skip.

“You can just call me Daichi. No one really calls me Daichi-san,” Daichi said quietly, causing Suga to grin.

“Yeah, I guess we’re a little familiar. I know your favorite pre-test café drink, and you know what my boxers look like. Maybe once you move in, I’ll tell you _my_ favorite drink and I can see your boxers. If you _wear_ boxers,” Suga smirked as the doors dinged and opened on the fourth floor.

Daichi’s mouth fell open and he felt his face turn beet red as Suga exited the elevator, giving Daichi a small wave and a smile as the doors slid shut.

Daichi only realized that that had been his floor as the elevator started heading back downwards, and smacked his hands to his cheeks, feeling how warm his face was.

_Goddamn, that boy was cute._

Daichi pressed the little number 4 again, leaning against the back wall of the elevator and letting out a deep breath.

Moving was not going to be a problem if he lived in the same building as Suga. Hell, college overall seemed better at the thought of ever possibly having a class with Suga.

 _And Suga had talked about Daichi’s underwear_.

Daichi groaned, thinking of how he should’ve said something smart back to Suga, not just gawk at him and blush like a tomato.

AS the elevator doors slid open on floor 4 again, Daichi walked out and turned to the right, looking for Kuroo’s room.

He’d been here a few times before, sometimes dropping a rather intoxicated Kuroo off after he and Bokuto challenged each other to a drinking contest for two hours, sometimes picking Kenma up for his appointments when Kuroo’s truck was broken down for a month because he accidentally backed it into the wall of the parking garage.

It was room 401, but it was at the end of the hall, with only one other room after it. Why the building was oriented like that, he didn’t know, but Daichi was glad to at least have _somewhere_ to call home.

Asahi hadn’t exactly forced him out, and honestly, Asahi would never, ever, force him to leave, but Noya was a little much sometimes, and when Noya had Tanaka and his girlfriend over, it was definitely too crowded for him.

Plus, Kuroo had lucked out of having a roommate in his large dorm room, although Kenma spent nearly every night there, for three years already, and Daichi wasn’t an awful roommate.

And Kenma wouldn’t wake Daichi up in the middle of the night because he set the kitchen on fire with illegal fireworks.

Daichi opened his dorm room and sniffed as the smell of burned food smacked him in the face. So maybe Kenma won’t wake him up by burning something illegal, but Kenma couldn’t make dinner to save his life.

Kuroo and Kenma were curled up the couch, Kenma wearing one of Kuroo’s old sweaters, and Kuroo wearing nothing but those god awful neon yellow and red sweatpants with cats all over them that he’d found at some thrift shop.

Kuroo lifted an eyelid and looked at Daichi with tired eyes. He held up one finger to his lips, pointing to Kenma’s sleeping figure with the other hand.

Daichi sighed. “You’re fine, Kuroo. It’s late, and I’ll bring it all up tomorrow.”

Kuroo grinned, mouthing a thank you to Daichi and tangling his arms back around Kenma, who had reached out for his arms in the moment that he had lifted them.

Daichi gestured to the couch, as his bed was downstairs in his car, and there was no way he’d enter Kuroo’s mess of a room.

Kuroo sighed, rolling his eyes. “Gimme a sec, captain.”

He shifted Kenma in his arms like a doll and stood, clutching the smaller boy to his chest. Kuroo tiptoed into his room, long legs like a cat’s as he strode into that wreck of a bedroom.

Daichi grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and tossed it across the cushions, pulling his winter coat off and tossing it to the coffee table in front of the couch.

As he pulled his shoes off, Kuroo came back out, shutting the door behind him silently.

“What made you change your mind?” Kuroo smirked, “Did you grow a heart on your half hour trip up here?”

“I didn’t take that long, asshole,” Daichi grumbled, pulling his shirt off and tossing that onto the pile with his other outerwear.

“So still no heart, then?” Kuroo chuckled, collapsing onto the other end of the couch with a grunt.

“I ran into someone,” Daichi sighed, his voice softening.

“Like literally? Hope you didn’t hurt them, poor thing-” Kuroo grinned.

“You know what I mean, Kuroo. His name’s Suga.”

Kuroo’s face lit up even more and his eyes shone. “You met our resident sweetheart, then?”

“Yeah.”

“He left you speechless? Made your heart soar? Smiled and made you wonder how an angel can live on Earth?” Kuroo teased.

Daichi said nothing, only scowling at Kuroo while he swung his feet up onto the couch, ready to pass out after a long day of classwork, moving issues, and nearly fainting from the smile of a pretty boy with a beauty mark.

Kuroo snorted. “Yeah, everyone’s in agreement that Suga’s an angel sent from God to make everyone’s day better. When I first saw him, I thought he was a teacher and kept calling him sir because he seemed so mature, you know?”

“Hard to see him that way. He was in his underwear,” Daichi sighed, leaning his head back against the armrest and stretching his feet across Kuroo’s lap.

“Why was he in his underwear?” Kuroo laughed, poking at Daichi’s feet.

“Got locked out in his pj’s ‘cause of his cat. At least _his_ pajamas don’t give me a headache to look at,” Daichi mumbled, kicking at Kuroo’s thigh gently.

“These are artistic pajamas. What’s Suga got on his? Hearts?”

“Little pink ones.”

“Ohh, dude, seriously?” Kuroo grinned.

“Seriously.”

Daichi smiled at the thought of Suga, skin pink from the cold, clutching that stupid cat to his chest and giggling softly.

“Stop thinking about him, dude, this is a jack-off free zone. Go hang with Bokuto if you’re gonna do that,” Kuroo nudged, causing Daichi to kick his leg again.

“Alright, dude, get some rest. I’ll help you carry stuff up after class. Try not to dream about Suga too much,” Kuroo laughed, sliding out from under Daichi’s feet and standing up.

As he walked into his room, Kuroo flicked the lights off, yawning as he snuck back into his room to go and curl up with Kenma.

As Daichi fell asleep, he wondered what it’d be like to curl up around Suga, his soft, silver hair pressed to his chest, long eyelashes flicking across his neck, and smooth, pink lips pressed to his collarbone.

Groaning, Daichi turned over, pressing his face into the pillow. He’d talked to Suga for barely ten minutes and he was already thinking of _sleeping_ next to him.

Maybe he needed to convince Kuroo to tell him Suga’s room number. Not to ask him out, just so that he’d know.


	2. so maybe i just need to find a better time to nap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daichi's a smitten dork and his friends are all assholes, in their own loving, special ways.

“Hey, you’re sleeping on my charger.”

Daichi’s eyes slid open slowly as someone poked at his legs, the bright light from the kitchen blurring his vision for a moment until it cleared, revealing a tired, pouty Kenma at his feet.

“Yo, captain, be helpful and lift your big ass feet,” Kuroo drawled from where he stood at the stove.

Confused, as he’d barely woken up a minute before, Daichi sat up and swung his feet to the floor, watching as Kenma contently pulled his gray charger from between the cushions.

Mumbling a thanks, Kenma clutched his DS and the newly recovered charger cord to his chest, pressing them into the fabric of his t-shirt as he shuffled over to the kitchen table. He wasn’t wearing his binder, and Daichi was reminded that he was still a little skittish about seeing people without it.

Not that Daichi cared, nor had he never seen him without one, as on more than one occasion, Daichi had driven him to pick up his T shots, and had sat with him and Kuroo in the doctor’s office.

The three of them were constantly around each other, so Daichi felt no shyness about himself (especially since Kuroo had been so kind as to tell Kenma about every last embarrassing thing Daichi had _ever_ done) but he knew that Kenma was different, and he was fine with that, too. Kuroo’d told him plenty about Kenma’s past to explain some of his idiosyncrasies, and it wasn’t in Daichi’s nature to pry or nose in, anyway.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Kuroo teased, turning and giving Daichi a bright grin.

“What time is it?” Daichi grumbled, rubbing at his eyes.

Kuroo shrugged. “Nine-ish?”

Daichi’s body straightened out and he groaned, “Oh, fuck, I have a class in ten minutes!”

Kuroo snickered, continuing to lazily make an easy breakfast of scrambled eggs. Kenma’s lips curled up into a small smile, and he stared at Daichi with a glimmer in his golden eyes.

Daichi stopped in the middle of pulling his jeans on to glare at Kuroo.

“It’s not nine, is it?”

“Good guess, sunshine.”

“Fuck you, Kuroo,” Daichi hissed, kicking his pants off and falling back onto the couch.

“The clock’s right in front of you,” Kenma mumbled, immersing himself into his video games.

Sure enough, there was an obnoxiously large wooden clock on the wall across from Daichi in the shape of a wickedly grinning cat. And sure enough, it was only seven.

“Good one, Kenma,” Kuroo smiled, dropping Kenma’s breakfast in front of him.

“You suck, Kuroo,” Daichi grumbled, walking over to sit across from Kenma.

“Hey, ‘least I can read a clock, captain,” Kuroo jibed, cracking another egg on the pan.

Daichi rolled his eyes, sighing as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“So, you got plans to stalk your little crush?”

Daichi glared at the back of Kuroo’s bedhead, but couldn’t stop his ears from turning pink at the thought of Suga.

“Kuroo, he’s turning red, get some cold water,” Kenma muttered, that cat-like smile still ghosting across his lips.

“Hey, you’re not innocent, either,” Daichi mumbled, causing Kuroo to burst into loud, obnoxious laughter. Not that Kuroo’s laughter was ever _quiet_ , but for seven in the goddamn morning, Kuroo was exceptionally noisy.

“Kenma, put the game down and eat. You’ve got class soon, too,” Kuroo chided as he set a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Daichi.

“Just one more minute,” Kenma murmured, drawing his knees up to his chin.

Kuroo snorted, dropping down into the seat next to his boyfriend and shoving a forkful of food into his own mouth before holding Kenma’s fork out for him.

Daichi mumbled out a thank you, to his chagrin, and ate slowly, silently cursing Kuroo for being a much better cook than him.

Kenma leaned over and took a bite from the proffered fork, eyes never leaving the screen. Kuroo continued to do this, sometimes stretching his neck out to look at Kenma’s game and make a small comment, eliciting short, distracted responses from Kenma.

Daichi enjoyed their company because of this easy morning routine. Asahi had been easy to work around, but when Noya spent a night there, the morning was rushed and often unpredictable.

Kuroo and Kenma had been doing the same thing for as long as they’d been at this university. Kuroo’d make something easy for breakfast while Kenma played his game, and they’d live in their own small world with one another until they were ready to get dressed. Daichi didn’t mind just being an observer, and it was reassuring to always know what would happen when he woke up.

Although the whole gang-up-on-Daichi-because-he’s-tired thing would get old quickly.

Kuroo gobbled down the last of his breakfast, stealing a piece of bacon from Kenma’s plate without protest, and then took their plates to the sink, wiping his hands off on the cat-covered dishtowel.

“C’mon, Kenma, we gotta get dressed. If we’re early, we can stop at the café and grab an apple scone for later,” Kuroo said, wrapping his arms around the younger man.

Kenma perked up at that, his eyes drifting away from the screen for the first time since he sat down. He pressed a few buttons and snapped the game shut, curling his arms around Kuroo’s shoulders and entangling himself in his boyfriend’s hold.

Kuroo barked out a short laugh and pressed a quick peck to Kenma’s forehead before loosening his grip enough to stand and lift Kenma from his seat.

“If you leave your dishes in the sink, I’ll do them later,” Kuroo mumbled, leading Kenma into his room, “But don’t think you won’t get away without any chores.”

“Yeah, sure, asshole,” Daichi smirked, finishing up his breakfast.

“Keep saying that and I won’t tell you where Suga’s room is,” Kuroo sang, closing his door behind them and laughing.

Daichi frowned, but tossed his dishes away and stretched his muscles out. He had time to run downstairs to grab a change of clothes from his car and shower quickly, as long as Kuroo and Kenma didn’t decide to take forever to get ready.

Unfortunately, Kuroo sometimes spent hours in the bathroom attempting to comb down his hair, only to end up with a broken comb and his hair styled to look like a bird’s nest. And Kenma would sometimes spend an extra hour debating with Kuroo over which binder to wear (because Kuroo always told him to wear the neon yellow cheetah print one and Kenma, being sensible, usually opted for the more monochromic options).

Sighing and pulling his jeans on, Daichi grabbed his keys and his jacket to head out, thinking about the off-chance that he could run into a certain someone on his way to his car.

Daichi shut the door behind him quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets and turning to walk down the hall.

The door at the end of the hall swung open just as Daichi turned away from it, and a loud voice shouted a farewell to someone.

“I’ll see you in class, Iwa-chan!”

“Shut your mouth, Oikawa, people are trying to sleep!”

Daichi recognized the voices, turning to see a frazzled Iwaizumi walking away from a bright-eyed Oikawa, shaking his head as he went.

Oikawa laughed to himself, then noticed Daichi in the hallway and raised his eyebrows.

“Sawamura, I didn’t know you lived here,” Oikawa teased, the shining glint in his eyes giving away his lie.

“Hey, Oikawa, leave him alone, you know he just moved in, you already teased him about it last week,” Iwaizumi deadpanned, stopping in his tracks and rolling his eyes.

“Aww, Iwa-chan, you ruin _everything_ -” Oikawa started before something seemed to click in his mind, “Oh, Sawamura, you wouldn’t have happened to run into someone last night? Someone suga-ry sweet?”

Daichi’s face turned red and he sputtered, “What- who- no, what?”

Iwaizumi nudged Daichi’s shoulder, sighing, “C’mon, just let him be, Oikawa. Not everyone is this awake at seven in the fucking morning.”

Oikawa’s eyes shone and he tilted his head. “Alright, Iwa-chan, whatever you say. Have a nice day, Sawamura!”

The door clanged shut, and Daichi could hear Oikawa cackling to himself from behind it.

“Ignore him. He’s just teasing you. You being new to the building and all, he probably thinks he has to haze you or something,” Iwaizumi grunted, beginning to walk down the hall.

Daichi walked along with him, nodding. “I didn’t think you lived in this building, Iwaizumi.”

“I don’t. I was babysitting that asshole so that he wouldn’t drive the entire floor up the wall with his alien movie marathon,” Iwaizumi explained, pressing the elevator button as they stopped in front of it.

“Oh, alright.”

“Yeah, sounds fun, right? At least his roommate was out of there for an hour or two during the really bad ones, like the fake ketchup blood and god awful acting bad,” Iwaizumi smirked, stepping into the elevator as it dinged.

The elevator dropped down the few flights to the bottom, and Daichi stayed quiet, not wanting to pry too much more into why Iwaizumi would spend a weeknight at Oikawa’s house.

Not that he and the entire rest of the volleyball team didn’t already know that the bubbly setter and his ace were more than friends and had been since long before college. But Iwaizumi and Oikawa seemed to prefer to keep it under wraps, so no one said anything to them about it.

Although Kuroo had had to have a short chat with them when Kageyama found them in a compromising situation in the locker room after practice.

Kageyama still refused to go in there after hours without Hinata by xer side. And it’d taken several weeks to get xem to look either of the two at fault in the eye.

As the elevator stopped and the doors slid open, Iwaizumi nodded at Daichi, mumbling a goodbye before walking around the corner towards the small infirmary and laundry room in the dorm lobby.

Daichi walked out of the building quickly, the frigid cold tightening his joints and whipping across his face. He grabbed one of the clothing boxes from the backseat and jogged back inside, managing to slide the keycard through the slot with only his ring and pinky finger free under the box.

The way back upstairs was silent, the elevator dinging the only noise in the entire building, and Daichi tried his best to tiptoe down the hallway with a big, heavy box of clothes.

Kenma and Kuroo were on the couch when he opened the door, Kenma in Kuroo’s lap playing his game, and Kuroo playing with the ends of Kenma’s hair as he watched him play.

“Shower’s all yours, captain,” Kuroo smirked, “Guess you didn’t get to run into your new friend on the way, then?”

Daichi shot him a quick glare before setting the box down with a thud, rifling through it to pull out a new pair of jeans and a sweater.

“Doesn’t surprise me, though. I think he’s got an early class on Wednesdays across campus, so he was probably long gone before you even woke up,” Kuroo shrugged.

Daichi sighed, whether out of disappointment at missing his chance or at the nearly equally saddening thought of facing the rest of the day without seeing Suga, he didn’t know.

He jumped into the shower and got ready as quickly as he could, knowing that he’d probably have to pick Asahi up from her apartment. They had this one class together, and Daichi always used to drive them there, so he didn’t want to make Asahi worry any more than she probably already was.

As he grabbed his jacket to leave for the second time this morning, Kuroo gave him a halfhearted promise to help carry his belongings up later, and Kenma nodded after Kuroo prodded his shoulder a few times in reminder.

Daichi bid them farewell as he shut the door behind him, zipping his coat up to his chin and checking his phone for the time.

8:50. Just about on time to grab Asahi and head over.

As he left the building and hurried to his car, Daichi wondered if Asahi knew Suga. While Asahi wasn’t the life of the party by any definition of the term, she still knew most of the people on campus from dating Noya, a social _hawk_ if there ever was one, and from spending so much time at the popular owlish café when she had to finish a writing assignment due the next day.

Daichi drove in comfortable silence, turning down a street to stop in front of the building that he used to think of as home. He could see Asahi waiting just inside the doors and waved at her, unlocking the car doors.

Asahi stumbled outside, nearly tripping over her own feet, and hiked her skirt up so that it showed her dark blue flats as she hurried to the car. As she slid into the passenger seat, Asahi mumbled an apology.

“Don’t apologize, we’re early, Asahi. Although why you decided to wear a long skirt when it’s so slushy out, that’s something to think about,” Daichi smiled as Asahi buckled herself in.

Asahi grinned and her cheeks dusted red. “Noya said I looked like a princess like this,” she mumbled.

Daichi laughed. “Oh jeez. But, sure, you do look nice in that. Still, it’s freezing out, where is your coat?”

“Noya left his at Tanaka’s a few days ago, so he’s been using mine, and I just forgot to grab a sweater or something,” Asahi sighed as they turned down another street.

“Well, I’ll give you a ride back after class so you don’t freeze your legs off, but tomorrow you’d better have your coat back. We don’t need our ace getting sick anytime soon, got it?” Daichi grinned, pulling into a parking spot in front of the business building.

Asahi nodded shyly, hopping out of the car carefully. She stretched a leg over the slushy puddles of the parking lot, stepping cautiously onto the sidewalk and turning to wait for Daichi.

Unfortunately for Daichi, he didn’t have trees for legs, and had parked right next to a snowbank, and had to clamber over the graying slush pile in a poor display of his actually very advanced athletic abilities.

Brushing frozen sludge off of his hands and coat, Daichi hopped over to where Asahi stood, glaring at her as she hid a grin behind her sparkly purple and blue scarf.

“Don’t you try and hide, asshole. Not all of us are tall and can walk over mountains of slush,” Daichi muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and stalking off towards the front door of the building.

Asahi pulled her scarf up and stifled her laughter, the uneven stitching doing little to muffle the light, airy sound.

That scarf was something Noya had made for Asahi when Asahi had first come out as bigender, and Asahi wore it so often that the already messy knitting had frazzled into a knotted sparkly mess, but she refused to throw it away or use a different one. Noya had spent nearly two weeks just getting the stitches to hold, and another month to complete it, and another week or so getting the nerve up to give it to Asahi.

Since then, Noya had knitted a scarf for almost everyone he knew to practice, and Daichi had his black and orange one packed away in one of the boxes in his car, and he knew that Asahi had to have _at least_ three more somewhere, but she preferred this one for obvious reasons.

Asahi and Daichi walked into the building, stomping the cold slush off of their shoes before squeaking across the floor to the classroom.

The other students were already seated, the teacher finishing up a few notes before beginning class.

Daichi sighed as he sat down with Asahi in the back row and decided that yes, class would have seemed much better if he had been able to see Suga that morning.

But he hadn’t, and now he had nearly two hours of lecturing to get through before he could have another opportunity.

\--------------------------------- 

Stretching his arms as he stood, Daichi groaned from how tight his muscles were from sitting still for so long. At least he only had this class once a week.

Asahi straightened out her skirt before doing the same, stretching her long arms up higher than Daichi could reach if he jumped.

“Do you need to stop anywhere before I take you back to the dorm?” Daichi asked, gathering his notes.

Asahi nodded. “Can we pick Noya up from his class?”

Daichi nodded, heading out of the class after the rest of the zombified students. Almost everyone in that room had been minutes away from passing out at one point or another, even Asahi, who feared falling asleep in class like it was a criminal offense. Daichi had had to nudge her shoulder once towards the end of the lecture, while Asahi had to nearly push Daichi out of his seat to keep him awake.

Daichi nodded at a few classmates that met his gaze, their names flicking in and out of his mind. He wasn’t very interested in knowing a lot of the student body, and Economics III was not exactly the happening place for social interaction.

Asahi, on the other hand, said a quick ‘good morning’ and smiled at everyone who she passed, albeit slightly shyly. Everyone knew Asahi as the powerhouse queen of the volleyball team, and rumors flew around that she could spike a ball through someone’s skull if they spoke ill of any member of the team.

Daichi didn’t doubt Asahi’s athletic ability, but she was the absolute _last_ person to instigate a fight, and a close second or third for the least likely person to get involved with rumors.

The thought of pretty, sweet Asahi drilling a volleyball through someone’s head was both hilarious and kind of frightening.

Daichi waited a few feet away as someone stopped Asahi to ask her for some notes (because it’s not like people had other classes to get to, not at _all_ ), then continued until someone else stopped them, deciding that after the fourth person who had drifted out of the lecture and missed notes that they needed to get out before they ended up reteaching the class with their peers.

Asahi apologized to Daichi, hurrying next to him as they walked into the brisk air.

“You’d think that if so many people couldn’t stay awake that they’d change the teacher or _something_ , huh, Asahi?” Daichi muttered, pulling his keys out.

“I don’t know, I think he means well as a professor, and he’s got tenure, so they probably can’t just drop him any time soon,” Asahi shrugged.

Daichi nodded, unlocking the car and braving Mount Slush again to get into the car. It was much easier to jump into the car than try and maneuver over the pile and down onto the ground.

As he turned on the car, Daichi remembered something he’d thought of earlier.

“Hey, Asahi, do you know someone named Suga?” Daichi asked as he pulled out of the parking spot.

Asahi nodded slowly, recognition flickering across her face, “Yeah, Suga’s in my Modern Studies class on Thursdays. Why?”

“No reason,” Daichi said, hoping his face wasn’t as warm as he felt it was.

Asahi raised an eyebrow and Daichi knew that his stupid blush had given him away.

“How do _you_ know Suga?”

“I, uh, ran into him last night outside of my new dorm. He got locked out in his pajamas,” Daichi mumbled, “His boxers have little pink hearts on them, you know.”

Asahi snorted, her lips curling up into a grin, eyes alight with amusement.

“But, er, I was just wondering if you knew him. He seemed nice-”

“And cute?”

“And cute- hey,” Daichi frowned, ears turning red.

Asahi apologized, muffling laughter again. “Sorry, Daichi. But Suga _is_ cute. And he’s really smart, too. The professor loves him. It helps that he’s the nicest person on the planet, too.”

“Yeah, he seemed pretty cool,” Daichi smiled, thinking of Suga’s playful banter.

As they stopped in front of the science building, Daichi could feel Asahi watching him carefully, her brown eyes searching for something else, but Daichi was done embarrassing himself for this morning. Hopefully.

Noya came running out of the front doors, Asahi’s coat pulled tightly around his little body, the bottom of it smacking against his thighs as he hurried to the car. Skidding to a halt, Noya leapt into the car, exhaling deeply.

“It’s so freaking COLD!” Noya exclaimed, shivering.

“Says the one wearing a coat four sizes too big for him,” Daichi scoffed, driving away from the curb.

Noya stuck his tongue out, then leaned forward to give Asahi a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey, princess,” he beamed, reaching forward to hold one of Asahi’s hands in both of his.

“Hi, Noya,” Asahi blushed, kissing his fingertips.

“Are you buckled?” Daichi grumbled.

Noya snorted. “Yeah, grumpy pants. What’s got you all moody?”

“Daichi’s got a crush,” Asahi whispered, that mischievous smile creeping back onto her lips.

“Oohh, who’s the lucky one this time, Daichi?” Noya teased.

“I’m not talking about this,” Daichi mumbled, frustrated that, yes, his face was heating up again.

“I’ll tell you later, Noya. How was class?” Asahi murmured.

Noya perked up and begin babbling about some lab experiment he was doing in Chemistry, involving flames, chemicals with way too many syllables in the names, and what sounded like a few too many precautions.

“-and I was being careful, of course, but Mei accidentally spilled some of the distilled water rinse bath onto her lab, and the professor was so upset, you’d think that she’d spilled the chemicals or something. She had to redo the whole thing while he watched someone else’s reaction, I felt bad, so I helped her catch up when he wasn’t looking. Not that she needed my help, though, Mei’s like a million times smarter than me, you know.”

“Noya, you’re brilliant,” Asahi said, squeezing his hand.

“Yeah, yeah. But Mei’s still really, _really_ smart. I think she might’ve spilled the water on purpose just so that she didn’t have to have him hawking over her every move. I probably wouldn’t have thought of that, but it’s good, since it’s just water, but he’s so picky about every little thing, you know?” Noya rambled, letting go of Asahi’s hand to gesture wildly with his hands.

As Daichi stopped in front of their building, Asahi and Noya bid him goodbye, and he watched Noya latch onto Asahi as soon as she stepped out of the car, pressing another kiss to her cheek and dragging her towards the door, waving over his shoulder.

The drive back to the new dorm seemed almost too quiet after listening to Noya talk, but it was plenty welcome after a two hour lecture. Without any more classes until later in the evening, all Daichi wanted to do was take a quiet nap until Kuroo got home and could help him bring up the boxes.

Locking his door, Daichi shuffled across the sidewalk, avoiding falling as he navigated around the nearly invisible patches of thin ice.

By the time he got to the fourth floor, his eyelids felt heavy and he hoped that he’d at least get to the couch before he passed out. Unlocking the dorm room took an extra minute as he tried unlocking it with his car key, his locker room key, and his old dorm room key before managing to get it open.

Sighing and dropping his coat on the coffee table, Daichi pitched forward and landed face first on the couch, sighing contently at the thought of drifting to sleep in seconds.

Quickly, he kicked his shoes off and pulled the blanket over himself, the gentle fingers of sleep already pulling at his mind.

He felt himself sink into slumber faster than usual, and closed his eyes slowly, the thought of two hours of peace making him even more tired.

That is, until he heard some god _awful_ noise come from the direction of a certain brown-haired setter’s room.

It was a high, screeching noise mixed with a guttural moan, like some sort of animal from a fantasy movie.

The noise dragged on for nearly ten seconds, then stopped just as quickly as it had started.

Closing his eyes again, Daichi sighed contently until-

The sound came again, louder this time.

Daichi’s eyes shot open and he glared at the ceiling for a moment before turning and shoving his face under the couch pillow.

The groan repeated, scratching across his tired mind and waking him up in the most unpleasant way possible.

After four more, Daichi jumped off of the couch, clenching his hands into fists.

There was no way that Oikawa freaking Tooru was going to interrupt his naps, not now, and not anytime in the future, and he was going to make sure of that right now.

Pushing his door open, Daichi toed down the short distance to the last doorway, probably looking like a murderer on the way to finish off a victim, at least a murderer with recently messed up bedhead and heavy-lidded eyes.

Pounding on the door, Daichi shouted, “Oikawa, I swear, if you don’t stop that noise right now, I’ll-”

“Oikawa’s not home, sorr- Daichi?”

Daichi’s fist stopped an inch from pounding Suga’s face in and his mind jolted awake.

“Uh, hi Suga.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i got this done earlier than expected, but i'm not sure if i'll be able to update as soon for the next chapter, especially if they keep getting longer like this one :/  
> also, i double checked my grammar this time, especially with Asahi's pronouns, but if you saw any mistakes, don't hesitate to tell me, i'll fix it asap! thanks!


	3. so maybe someone should feed that stupid cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daichi's got a problem with a noisy cat and it's not Kuroo.

Daichi dropped his arms quickly, smiling sheepishly.

“Sorry, I thought this was Oikawa’s dorm.”

Suga wore a thin black t-shirt with faded gray lettering from some band that Daichi slightly recognized, the hem reaching halfway down his thighs, where stained and weathered plaid sweatpants hung to the floor, showing just the very ends of his toes against the cold floor. His eyes were wide and bright, as if he was the most awake he’d ever been in his life, but his hair was slightly mussed to one side that implied that he’d just been trying to lie down.

“It is,” Suga smiled, his face glowing.

Daichi blinked. “You room with Oikawa, but- oh. Oh, no,” he groaned, thinking of what Oikawa had suggested as he had left the dorm.

“I see that Oikawa’s left a lovely impression on you already, hm?” Suga laughed, interrupted quickly by the deep groaning that had led Daichi to storm Suga’s door, “Oh, Nicki, hush, I’ll get your food in a minute!”

Said cat shuffled over to sit a few feet inside the door, glaring at Daichi as it let loose another screech of a meow.

“I’m sorry, was she bothering you? I know I said her meow was a little whiny, but it can be a bit _much_ for some people,” Suga sighed, turning to look at the angry little fluffball.

“Oh, um, just a little, I really didn’t know what it was, sorry,” Daichi mumbled, feeling stupid for not having put the pieces together earlier.

“Nicki, come say hi to Daichi,” Suga cooed, kneeling and turning around to beckon for the cat.

Daichi grimaced at the pet, trying to force it to leave through willpower and angry glaring.

_Don’t bring that howling demon any closer I swear to GOD I’ll kill it-_

“Aww, Daichi, she remembers you!” Suga smiled as the cat made its way over to him.

Daichi bent over to pet it hesitantly, fingers twitching as he stroked its fur, waiting for it to start screeching again.

Nicki curled around him, brushing hesitantly against his knee once before twisting back around and trotting away from him.  


Daichi sighed, too tired to care that a _cat_ had just rejected him, and stood back up.

“So then you’re on this floor, huh?” Suga asked, eyes alight.

“Yeah, just next door,” Daichi murmured, ignoring the sparkle in Suga’s eyes as he spoke.

“That’s awesome. Maybe we’ll run into each other more, then. And hopefully not when I’m stranded outside in my underwear, huh?”

_I would literally die if I spent any more time with you in your underwear._

Daichi nodded slowly, feeling his heart skip a beat.

“Well, then, I’d better let you get back to your dorm. I’ll feed Nicki, don’t worry. And hopefully she won’t be too ornery tonight, either. Sometimes she keeps the whole floor up, unfortunately,” Suga sighed, shrugging, “See you around, neighbor.”

Daichi nodded, stepping out of the dorm as Suga shut the door with a wave.

“Oh, _god_ ,” Daichi mumbled as he walked back into his room, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes.

Plopping down on the couch with a sigh, Daichi’s heart finally slowed, the image of Suga’s pink-hearted boxers leaving his mind.

He was next door to the most beautiful boy he had ever met, and he’d just made a complete fool of himself.

Sliding down to smush his face into the pillow, Daichi exhaled heavily, sinking into the cushions.

From next door, Nicki howled again, and Daichi heard Suga yell an apology through the wall.

Groaning, Daichi pulled the covers over his head and prayed for sleep to take him over so he’d stop thinking about pretty boys with cranky cats.

* * *

 

“Yo, Captain, don’t you have boxes to bring up?”

Daichi felt someone pull at his shoulder, turning him so that the ceiling light shone in his face.

With a groan, he cracked an eye open, doing his best to glare through the warm haze of exhaustion.

“C’mon, Daichi, I’ve got class later and then we have practice after that. Up. Now,” Kuroo poked, pulling his eyelids up and staring straight down at him, “And Kenma said he’d help, but you gotta hurry before he sits down and plugs in, or you’re out of luck.”

“Kuroo, I never said I’d help,” Kenma said flatly from where he sat on the floor, pulling his DS out slowly.

“I’ll get you an apple pie latte after practice,” Kuroo pleaded, flicking Daichi’s forehead before stalking over to stand in front of Kenma, “And I’ll help you study for your exam tomorrow.”

“Who said I was gonna study?” Kenma snorted.

“I did, now come on, don’t you wanna see what dirty things Daichi’s been hiding?” Kuroo smirked, tilting his head back to meet Daichi’s eyes, “Right, Captain?”

“Fuck off, Kuroo,” Daichi mumbled, standing up and rubbing his face.

“Nah, I’m good. Now come _on_ , Captain. I have a lot of work to get done and I’m taking a break from it to help your lovesick, lazy ass out,” Kuroo sighed.

“How nice of you to bless me with your time,” Daichi hissed, shoving his shoes on.

“I’m always this kind, right, Kenma?”

Kenma snorted, clicking his DS shut and slouching in his seat.

“Okay, let’s get going, maybe we’ll see a certain someone on their way home from a twelve o’clock lecture, hmm? A pretty little pink hearted someone?” Kuroo grinned, skipping to the door and walking into the hallway.

Daichi’s head perked up and he hurried after the two, shutting the door behind them. “Is he actually coming from a class?” he asked, a little too eagerly.

“Oh, now how would I know? I mean it’s not like I hear him coming home every Wednesday at one-thirty on the dot,” Kuroo scoffed, pressing the elevator button as Daichi caught up with them.

Daichi looked at the clock in the hallway. 1:27.

Daichi combed his slight bedhead down with his hands, rubbing at a particularly stubborn tuft of short, dark hair.

“You look fine, Captain. ‘S not like there’s much you can do about that hideous face of yours anyway,” Kuroo cackled, striding into the elevator and leaning against the back wall.

Daichi hopped in and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever. My hair is _nothing_ compared to your mess of a bedhead.”

“You _know_ I can’t fix my hair, Daichi. And it’s attractive, looks like I did it on purpose. You just shave off any hair you can’t control,” Kuroo teased as the elevator descended.

“Kuroo, I swear to God-”

“Bring it, shorty-”

“Both of you stop before the doors open-” Kenma groaned as the doors slid open with a ding.

“Daichi?”

Daichi’s face dropped and he turned to see Suga, in all his beautiful, clothed glory, standing outside the elevator.

“Hey, Suga. How was Psych?” Kuroo smirked, choking down a snort as Daichi’s cheeks turned pink.

“Eh, it was alright. A lot of people are home sick, apparently, so the class was small. How were your classes this morning?” Suga grinned, stepping onto the elevator.

“Could’ve been better, but I won’t complain. It’s only Wednesday, after all,” Kuroo shrugged, walking out and holding his arm out for Kenma and Daichi to follow.

Kenma nodded as he passed Suga, smiling softly. Suga beamed, frosted-pink lips pulled up to show bright teeth.

Daichi coughed and strode past him awkwardly. “Uh, see you later, Suga.”

“Bye, Daichi. Hope Nicki didn’t interrupt your nap again too much,” Suga smiled as the doors closed between them.

“Dude, you’re blushing so hard you might actually pass out. Cool a bit,” Kuroo poked, slapping Daichi on the back.

“No, I’m not,” Daichi grumbled, stomping away and leaving the lobby, Kuroo and Kenma toddling after him, snickering at their new roommate’s embarrassment.

Daichi pulled his keys out, ignoring Kuroo’s whines from behind him and unlocking his car as he muttered to himself about his ‘terrible-awful-catastrophically-cruel’ roommate.

Daichi shifted the boxes in the back seat, moving the larger one in front so a certain someone would have to deal with it.

“Hey, Captain, there’s barely anything in here, whaddya need us for?” Kuroo deadpanned, observing the meager personal belongings.

“I don’t need that much stuff, you know some of us don’t bring our entire estate with us wherever we go.”

“ _Entire estate, I’m Daichi, and I don’t need stuff, weh weh,_ ” Kuroo mimicked, rolling his eyes, “Man, I wasn’t saying you needed more stuff, but Kenma could probably carry most of your stuff upstairs by himself in one trip. I don’t doubt that you could lug it all up in one go either.”

Daichi sighed, and Kuroo held up his hands, nodding.

“Sure, okay, scoot over, I’ll grab a box. No need to chew me out, I’m sorry. I’ll give you Suga’s number when we get up there. Maybe he can take you shopping to get more stuff. Maybe some pink-hearted boxers in your size?” Kuroo smiled, grabbing the biggest box.

Daichi crossed his arms, but didn’t prod further. Kuroo wasn’t a bad guy, he just had a tendency to poke a little too much into people. But he knew about it, and, as in this case, he’d usually apologize.

Kenma shuffled forward and grabbed Daichi’s box of keepsakes, the ones he’d chosen to bring from home, as the truly precious ones stayed taped up in a box in his home’s basement.

Daichi grabbed the last two boxes, stacking them on top of one another. Kuroo had grabbed his schoolbooks and supplies, so the only things in his boxes were clothes.

Shutting the door with his elbow, Daichi fumbled with the keys in his hands to lock the car before hurrying after Kuroo and Kenma, who’d headed back to the dorm, eager to be back in their comfy, warm room.

Toeing the door open where Kuroo had left it propped open, Daichi slid inside and followed them to the dorm room.

They took the boxes to Daichi’s empty little room, where only a bare mattress and a tiny desk occupied to small space. Daichi mumbled a thanks as Kuroo and Kenma headed back to their room.

Daichi pulled out his clothes and tossed them into the closet haphazardly, only aiming to get them on a shelf somewhere, not in any specific organization. He threw his sheets over the bed, wrestling with them for a few minutes before they stayed stretched around it.

Dumping the rest of the clothing boxes onto the floor, Daichi tossed the old quilt he’d brought onto the bed with his pillow, leaving only a spare pair of sneakers, which he tossed into the closet, which _did_ seem fairly empty, despite the fact that most of the clothes he owned were in it.

With a sigh, Daichi stacked his textbooks onto the desk, stuffing the empty boxes into the corner next to it.

As he pulled open the last box, he felt a hint of nostalgia. He’d brought one of his high school notebooks, the one from his first semester of History in first year. Instead of being filled with notes or _helpful_ things, however, it had collected notes and pictures and doodles from all of his years there.

Most of the pictures were of him and Kuroo, as they’d both been in each other’s classes every year, and they’d even had a brief relationship in second year before they both decided that they weren’t really interested in each other that way.

Although, Daichi thought bittersweetly, the few pictures from those few months were when he thought he looked the most happiest. Kuroo looked most excited and joyous in the pictures where it was all three of them, after Kenma had come the next year.

Kuroo was his first boyfriend, and his only relationship to date, and after struggling with being gay for so long, being in a relationship made him feel safe.

_Bet being Suga’s boyfriend would feel pretty good, too, though._

Daichi flipped through the last few pages, stuffed with departing notes from classmates, two and a half pages covered in loopy green script, courtesy of Michimiya, his other close friend from high school.

Michimiya was the first person he came out to, and she had always helped him to kick in common sense when he and Kuroo would get a little out of hand. She’d come to college with him, but she was much more study-focused than he was, aiming at being a modern history major while maintaining her position on the volleyball team and keeping up with a minor in business administration.

Daichi saw her four or five times a month, less around her exams and more during off-season, and relished their time together.

Once again, Kuroo was a great friend, but Michimiya was the motivating, supportive friend where Kuroo was the scheming, supportive friend.

Daichi tossed the notebook into a desk drawer with the scarf Noya’d knitted him and a few random tchotchkes from his high school friends that had chosen other universities.

At the bottom of the box was a framed picture of Kuroo, Michimiya, and Daichi the day after they’d graduated. They’d walked to an old playground and Kuroo had challenged them to climb the old jungle gym. Unfortunately for him, he was too tall and got stuck halfway because he couldn’t fit his entire body around it, and Daichi had only gotten a few feet higher. Michimiya, who’d scaled the entire thing in seconds, had taken a picture from the top, looking down at the three of them. She had a bright smile on her face, while Daichi looked frustrated from not being able to go higher, and Kuroo looked terrified as he had fallen backwards and was hanging from the structure by just his left arm and right foot.

But despite the humor of the picture, it meant more to Daichi than most other pictures because it was the last time they’d been together before deciding majors and finding girlfriends or boyfriends and splitting up on their walk home from class instead of just skipping across the street where their dinners would be made and ready for them when they walked in the door.

Daichi put that picture on the desk, tossing the box to the corner and wondering how many other pictures he could put on the desk. Bokuto’s boyfriend, Akaashi, was studying photography and had taken some action shots of him for some assignment during volleyball practice. If he asked, Akaashi would take some pictures of all of them before this year ended and they all truly started to split apart in their studies.

Daichi’s thoughts were interrupted with his phone vibrating, reminding him that he had a Bio class to get to, and that he had to go and pick Iwaizumi up today. They shared this one class, as it was the only one that didn’t interfere with some of the morning volleyball practices, and usually, Daichi would just meet Iwaizumi at his car, since Iwaizumi’s room was in the dame building as Daichi’s old one.

But now that he was further away, he’d probably have to leave early to get him. Although if Iwaizumi spent as much time at Oikawa’s as Daichi thought, he might just even be next door right now.

With a quick text, Daichi found out that, yes, Iwaizumi _was_ just next door, and that _yes_ , he’d probably be there most days, but _no,_ he wasn’t living there.

Snorting, Daichi walked out of his room and chugged a quick glass of water before stopping over at Kuroo’s door, knocking and poking his head in.

“I’m heading to class,” he whispered.

Kuroo, who was curled up on the bed, Kenma in his arms and a book, most likely forgotten, at his feet, nodded, yawning, “Have fun. See you at practice.”

“Don’t sleep through your class, Kuroo,” Daichi scolded before shutting the door and leaving, walked the few feet to where Iwaizumi was.

With a single knock, the door swung open, and Suga popped into view.

“Nice to see you again, Daichi. Hope you had a nice nap,” he grinned, lively hazel eyes entrancing Daichi.

“One second, Daichi, just gotta grab my book,” Iwaizumi yelled from somewhere in the apartment.

“No problem,” Daichi responded, eyes not leaving Suga’s face.

Oikawa jumped out from behind the door, a dangerous smirk n his face.

“How nice to see you, Daichi, heard you stormed over looking for me earlier with a torch in your hand. Just so you know, noise scares Nicki and makes her meow more,” he teased, throwing an arm around Suga’s shoulders, “Right, Suga?”

“Stop teasing him, Oikawa,” Suga chastised, holding a smirk of his own off of his face, “But you know, Nicki was a little more restless after you came over. You might need to be careful, or she won’t let you sleep another night until you graduate.”

Daichi blushed, blown away by Suga’s small, tilted grin and the way that it lifted his beauty mark up to almost disappear into his beaming eyes.

“Seems like Nicki’s not the only one keeping poor Daichi awake at night, though, my dear roommate,” Oikawa sang softly, winking at Daichi.

Suga’s eyes widened slightly, his cheeks dusting pink for a moment before he composed himself and bumped Oikawa’s hip with his own, crossing his arms.

“He’s only been here one night, Oikawa.”

“And how long of a night must _that_ have been.”

“Oi, leave Daichi be, you already picked on him this morning,” Iwaizumi sighed as he squeezed past the two, pinching Oikawa’s side as he went.

With an overemphasized pout, Oikawa sniffled and dropped his arms to rub at his side.

“Iwa-chan, you can’t pinch me, I’m too pretty,” Oikawa whined.

Iwaizumi snorted, turning and squeezing Oikawa’s hands over his ‘injury’ before scoffing, “You’re fine, see you at practice. Don’t even think about going early, either. You’ve got a test tomorrow and you can’t be too tired for it.”

Oikawa crossed his arms and turned his nose up as Iwaizumi walked down the hall, sighing out a goodbye to Suga.

“See you later, Suga,” Daichi said quickly before hurrying after Iwaizumi, not wanting to get trapped into another gang-up-on-Daichi party.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry for the long wait! hopefully chapters will be updated more consistently when the school year ends soon :/


	4. so maybe you look ridiculously cute at two in the morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The important thing is that it could've gone worse. Or at least that's what Daichi keeps telling himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for panic attacks, anxiety, and mentions of abuse.

Daichi sighed into the steam rising from the showers, relaxing after a long day of lectures, practice, and writing. Apparently, Daichi’s old dorm’s showers had been some of the older ones without any worthwhile water pressure, because the first time he’d turned one of these showers on, he’d almost cried at how nice the water was.

Although the private shower in their dorm was even better. However, because of some fault in the plumbing that _had_ to start causing trouble only two weeks after Daichi moved in, the dorm inhabitants were asked to only use the public block showers until it could be fixed.

At least they hadn’t just shut all running water off. The thought of a whole building of college students running around without functional showers gave Daichi chills.

Letting the hot water release some of the pressure in his muscles, Daichi rolled his shoulders and hopes that no one else was going to come in and ask where all the hot water went.

But seeing as it was nearly two in the morning on a Wednesday, Daichi figured that he’d be alright to take an extra five minutes to relax.

Humming softly to some background music from Kenma’s most recent game, Daichi rubbed shampoo through his hair, the scratch of fingernails on his scalp therapeutic and the gentle mint smell of the soap lulling his eyes to droop slightly.

As he finished scrubbing the last of the sweat and dirt off of his skin, Daichi was glad to be going to bed soon. He was beyond exhausted, and he could hear his bed calling from his room.

Daichi wrapped his towel around his hips after brushing water out of his hair, going over to a sink wash his face with cool water.

Sighing, Daichi left the bathroom, stopping in his tracks as he nearly collided with another person.

“Oh, didn’t expect to see you awake at this time, Daichi.”

Daichi’s face burned in the way that only happened when he heard that light, kind voice that belonged to a certain silver-haired angel.

“Can’t say I expect to see anyone up at this time, though,” Suga smiled.

Daichi felt exposed, only a towel hanging from his person while Suga wore a tank top, _red_ -hearted boxers, and had a towel hanging from his neck.

“Uh, yeah, sorry,” Daichi mumbled, moving out of the way.

Suga laughed gently, “You’re fine, Daichi. Goodnight, hope you can get some sleep. You look a little feverish, you know.”

Daichi nodded. “Uh, yeah, good shower, er, night,” Daichi said, his voice thick.

Suga laughed one more time before turning and letting the door close behind him.

Smacking his hands to his face, Daichi groaned. Of course Suga would happen across him when he was sleepy and void of any sensible thoughts.

The door shut behind Daichi with a loud thud as he walked into their dorm, hoping that he wouldn’t wake his two dormmates, both of whom never slept very heavily.

Kenma was a light sleeper by nature, and for as long as he’d known him, Daichi couldn’t think of a time when he _wasn’t_ woken up in the middle of the night. Although the boy did happen to fall asleep quickly sometimes, passing out on the floor and leaving Daichi to trip over him in the middle of the night. (Kenma never got hurt, but Daichi had some bruises that made him wary of midnight bathroom runs).

Kuroo was a light sleeper from some childhood issues that only Kenma and Daichi knew, and that were only told in the faint scars on Kuroo's back and the nightmares that would wake him, sobbing, in the middle of the night. Despite pressing two pillows to his head, he seemed to be unable to sleep a full night, and heaven forbid he didn’t have two pillows, or else he’d barely sleep an hour before waking up and asking to borrow Daichi’s. (Daichi always agreed).

Daichi tossed his towel onto the laundry heap at the foot of his bed, grabbing a pair of sweatpants and yanking them on before reaching over to his desk for his shower caddy to put some lotion on his hands before going to bed.

Nearly falling over at the absence of the object, Daichi caught himself and scoffed. Of _course_ he’d forgotten it in the bathroom.

Hobbling out of his room, Daichi crossed the hall again and went to open the door as he heard a voice inside the bathroom.

_Suga was still in there._

Daichi ran his hands over his face, steeling himself to at best, get in and out without being noticed, and at worst, be humiliated again as he fails to form a coherent thought in front of the most gorgeous person Daichi had _ever_ seen.

Pushing the door open, his ears filled with the soft hum of Suga’s voice, singing as he stood under the spray of the stall at the far end of the bathroom.

Daichi tiptoed slowly to the counter, where his caddy sat, untouched.

Then, Suga’s shower stopped and his towel disappeared from where it had hung next to the stall.

Daichi turned to grab his caddy when Suga stepped out, still singing, towel wrapped at his hips and hair dripping wet in a way that seemed unfairly gorgeous.

Looking up, Suga stopped in his tracks, hands going to grab at his towel.

Daichi turned and gave him a small smile, hoping that he didn’t give Suga a heart attack.

“Oh, Daichi, it’s just you, sorry,” Suga breathed out, laughing off his shock.

Daichi nodded, lifting his caddy. “Forgot this.”

Suga nodded, “Yeah, I saw that. I figured you’d left it. Nice shower gel you’ve got, though.”

Daichi’s face brightened as he remembered that he’d borrowed Kenma’s Pokémon soap as he left his at the old dorm.

“Uh, yeah, uh, I borrowed it,” Daichi choked out.

Suga laughed, his chest shaking with his giggles, water dripping down from his pale shoulders to fall onto the ground.

_Illegally gorgeous._

Daichi raised an eyebrow and asked, “Hey, Suga, what’re those scars from?”

At Suga’s expression, Daichi wished he’d kept his mouth shut. He just happened to notice the symmetrical thin lines on his chest as he’d scrambled for something to say, and _of course_ he’d blurt out the most _insensitive_ thing possible.

“Oh, these are, um, from a lung surgery I had in high school,” Suga said quickly, his face draining of its color.

Daichi nodded, although he noticed the hesitation in Suga’s voice.

Not only had he crossed a line, but he’d probably just broken the only trust they had, all in one stupid question.

“Okay, um, I’m going to sleep and go, yeah,” Daichi stuttered, hurrying out of the bathroom without a second look.

Crashing into the dorm room, Daichi was surprised to see the light was on, and jumped as he saw someone sitting on the couch.

“Eventful shower, Captain?” Kuroo smirked.

“Fucking _hell_ , Kuroo, don’t scare me like that,” Daichi growled, dropping his caddy at the step.

Kuroo snickered, rubbing at his eyes. “Maybe if _someone_ wasn’t noisy as hell, I wouldn’t wake up this late.”

“Sorry,” Daichi sighed, walking to collapse next to Kuroo on the couch, “I’ll be quieter next time, promise.”

“Nah, you’re fine. I wasn’t sleeping well anyway. Turns out a Red Bull at midnight was _not_ a good plan after all,” Kuroo shrugged.

“Well, turns out that showering at two in the morning wasn’t a good plan for me, either,” Daichi mumbled, pressing the heel of his hand into his eyes.

Kuroo hummed, letting Daichi know that he was listening, and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Suga was in there. He went in as I left, and then I went back to grab my caddy and he was so _freaking_ gorgeous, but then I fucked up, Kuroo, I did something horrible, he’s never going to talk to me again, I swear, I’m probably going to have to move back with Asahi, and I’ll have to deal with her noisy boyfriend and his noisier friend but I don’t’ know what else I’ll be able to do,” Daichi choked out, shaking his head.

His heart pounded in his chest, ready to leap out as he tried to take deep breaths, tried to slow his breathing, tried to try to do something.

Daichi felt his body warm up and he reached back for Kuroo’s hand. “Kuroo, what am I gonna do, I’m done, I can’t, I can’t,” he gasped.

Kuroo sat forward, swinging off of the couch and kneeling in front of Daichi. “It’s okay, you’re okay, Daichi.”

Daichi felt his eyes grow hot, and he grabbed for Kuroo’s hands again, angry that he was back to this, clawing for Kuroo’s help after being a complete idiot.

“Kuroo, he has to hate me now, I know,” Daichi coughed out, blinking rapidly to try and hold back tears.

Kuroo shook his head, lifting their hands to Daichi’s cheeks. “Daichi, look at me. You’re right here, and you’re okay. Focus on me, Daichi.”

Daichi tried. He _tried_ to focus on Kuroo’s dark, deep eyes, but all he saw was Suga’s face, contorted slightly in fear.

“I’m, I’m trying, Kuroo, Kuroo, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Daichi sobbed, letting tears burn down his cheeks onto their hands.

Kuroo opened his mouth to speak, interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

“Daichi? Are you still up? You dropped your shampoo.”

Daichi’s heart stopped.

“Kuroo, Kuroo, no, I can’t, he can’t, I have to, I-” Daichi hissed, watching as Kuroo stood, letting go of his hands.

“Shh, stay right there,” Kuroo whispered, walking to the door and opening it, leaving it closed enough so that Daichi couldn’t be seen.

“Oh, sorry, Kuroo. Um, Daichi dropped in the hall,” Suga muttered, “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“S’alright, wasn’t sleeping anyway. You know, me and my Red Bull addiction,” Kuroo smiled tightly, taking the bottle and nodding, “Well, good night.”

“Wait, um, Kuroo, if Daichi’s up, or in the morning, can you tell him that I’m alright?”

Daichi’s eyes snapped open and he stopped hyperventilating.

“I mean, it’s okay, and I know he didn’t mean anything.”

Kuroo nodded, and Daichi looked over at him, trying to breathe again, but this time he felt too confused to even breathe in.

“Yeah, sure, uh, gotta go. Night,” Kuroo said quickly, shutting the door and dropping the bottle next to Daichi’s caddy.

“Daichi, Daichi, look at me, Daichi,” Kuroo whispered, dropping in front of him, “It’s okay, breathe for me, okay? Breathe.”

Daichi choked out a weak cough, lowering his head, and took a deep, ragged breath as Kuroo took his face in his hands.

Something dropped onto his shoulders and Daichi saw Kenma sit next to him with a blanket across them in his peripheral vision.

“Daichi, it’s okay. Suga’s not mad, he still likes you. And you’re okay. Listen to my voice,” Kuroo said, brushing at Daichi’s tears.

Daichi squeezed his eyes shut, nodding slowly and letting out a hiccupy breath.

Kuroo hummed quietly, and Daichi concentrated on the low voice, feeling Kenma’s chest rise and fall next to him, feeling Kuroo’s warm fingers press into his skin.

He was here, and he was okay. He was here, and he was okay.

Opening his eyes, Daichi nodded once, seeing Kuroo’s face break into a slow, relieved smile.

Kenma rubbed Daichi’s back, leaning his head on Daichi’s shoulders as he used to when they were kids and Daichi would scramble through Kenma’s window in the middle of the night and wiggle in between the two of them on Kenma’s couch in search of comfort.

“We’re okay, Daichi,” Kuroo sighed, getting up to sit next to Daichi, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, threading his fingers though Kenma’s hair.

Daichi leaned into Kuroo, taking a deep breath.

“Suga’s… not mad?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“Suga is fine. You are both okay,” Kuroo nodded.

Kenma looped his arms around Daichi and tugged on him, giving Kuroo a quick look before sitting up on the couch.

“C’mon, Daichi, time to go to bed,” Kuroo sighed, lifting them both up and standing in front of him.

Daichi’s head snapped up and he opened his mouth to speak, eyes watery, when Kuroo nodded.

“Yeah, c’mon. We can make room. Let’s go.”

Kenma took Daichi’s hand and lead him to their room, giving him a reassuring squeeze every few steps. Kuroo hurried around and turned off the lights, closing the door behind them.

Dodging the clutter on the floor, Kenma hopped onto the bed, Daichi following his footsteps and letting himself be pulled up onto the (leopard-print) comforter.

Kenma rolled over to the opposite end of the bed, pulling Daichi to lie facing him, and nuzzled his face into Daichi’s shoulder.

When they were younger, Kenma could curl into a ball and tuck into Daichi’s chest. Now, Kenma was too tall and gangly, so he just let his legs tangle with Daichi’s, clutching at Daichi’s shirt.

Kuroo slid into the bed behind Daichi, resting his head above Daichi’s, and draping his arm across both of them to hold onto Kenma’s shirt. His legs trailed down to the end of the bend, his long frame slotting behind Daichi’s perfectly.

“It’s okay, Daichi, you’re perfectly okay,” Kuroo whispered into Daichi’s hair, sighing as he closed his eyes.

Daichi focused on his breathing, listening to Kuroo’s deep, thrumming breaths, and Kenma’s littler, short breaths through his nose.

He was okay.

* * *

 

Daichi’s eyes blinked open as light filtered in through the window, knowing that his room had no windows, and he took a deep breath to remember where he was.

Kenma shifted in front of him, letting out a small whine as his golden eyes slid open.

Daichi noticed that Kuroo was gone, and turned to see that the door was open, and Kuroo was in the kitchen, making breakfast.

Kenma rolled onto his back, stretching his legs out. “Morning.”

Daichi sat up, rubbing his sticky, crusty eyes and regretting not rewashing his face before he went to bed.

“Here.”

Daichi opened his eyes to see a baby wipe in front of his face, Kenma having pulled it from the little box on the bedside table.

“Thanks,” Daichi mumbled, wiping over his eyes and mouth, just in case he had drooled overnight.

“You’re okay,” Kenma mumbled, said as a plain, blanket statement, but Daichi knew what Kenma meant to say.

“Yeah, I’m feeling better. Head hurts a little, but not too badly.”

Kenma nodded, reaching over to grab the bottle of pain medicine, but Daichi took his hand, shaking his head.

“It’s alright, I just need to eat and drink some water. Save that for something else.”

Kenma squeezed Daichi’s hand and mumbled, “Breakfast’s about ready.”

Daichi nodded, scratching at his chest before hopping out of bed after Kenma, circling around the room and toeing around the laundry, video games, and food wrappers littered about.

Kuroo looked up when he heard them walk out of their room, his eyes scanning over Daichi quickly.

“Morning,” Kuroo smiled, nodding at the table, where three plates sat, toast and jam waiting for them, “I’m about done with the eggs.”

Daichi nodded, thanking Kuroo as he sat down.

“So, I know you only have your one class today in the afternoon, but if you aren’t up to it, I’ll tell Hajime to get a second copy of the notes, and I’ll tell Oikawa to let coach know that we’ll be staying home today,” Kuroo mumbled, “I already told my teachers that I might not be able to come in today.”

Daichi looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly eleven, and Kuroo had classes at eleven thirty, two, and five before they had practice at seven.

“Kenma, you’ve still got to go to your class, though. Don’t think I don’t know about that quiz today,” Kuroo winked, leaning over from the counter to kiss Kenma on the cheek.

Kenma frowned, nibbling on his toast, but nodded.

“No, I’m alright, Kuroo, I promise.”

“Daichi, you should take a day to catch up on sleep and eat right, I know you’ve been shirking lunch-”

“Tetsurou, I’m okay. Go to your classes. I’ll take a day off of practice, but I can handle my class. It’s only an hour,” Daichi said calmly.

Kuroo sighed, turning off the stove, and picking up the frying pan. “Fine. But if you need anything, _anything_ , call me and I’ll be right over.”

Dropping eggs onto the plates, Kuroo set the pan onto the stove again and sat down with a heavy sigh.

“Do you want to talk about anything?” Kuroo said quietly, looking over at Daichi.

Daichi swallowed the last of his eggs and set his fork onto the plate, rubbing his mouth with his napkin before nodding.

He explained what had happened, what he (stupidly) said, and then waited for Kuroo to say something.

The room was silent for a minute, and Kuroo and Kenma kept looking over at each other like they were communicating through just glances.

“Daichi, it’s okay. Suga said last night, he’s fine. He knows that you didn’t mean any harm. Hell, I’m surprised that you were able to even speak in front of him, honestly, so saying something like that’s not the worst that could’ve happened,” Kuroo chuckled.

Daichi grimaced, then let out a short laugh. “I could’ve confessed my undying love to him. That would’ve been worse.”

“You could’a told Suga that his ass looked nice in a towel,” Kenma smiled.

“See, you only fucked up like 40%. There’s better, but fuck, for two in the morning, you did pretty well,” Kuroo grinned, standing to take the dishes to the sink.

“I want that on my tombstone. ‘Daichi Sawamura: Only fucked up like 40%’,” Daichi mumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Now, then, I have a class, Kenma, you have a quiz to study for, and Daichi, I think you need to grab a blanket and watch some TV for a couple hours,” Kuroo yawned, stalking off to grab his shower stuff.

Kenma shuffled back into their room, shutting the door after Kuroo walked out, towel and caddy in hand. Kuroo nodded to Daichi before leaving, whistling to himself.

Daichi walked into his room, grabbing a sweatshirt and pulling some socks on to protect his feet from the cold wooden floors.

Settling onto the couch, Daichi flicked onto some cartoon before stretching out, resolving to take a short nap until after Kuroo came back in between classes. Or even later, if he really needed.

The colors of the cartoon blurred together, and Daichi fell back to sleep, stomach full and head clear.

* * *

 

“Now, on Tuesday, you will all need to have your notes from chapters four through seven completed, and we’ll test on them Thursday. Have a good weekend, and don’t let me see any of you on the nightly news, alright?” Professor Ukai barked, closing his laptop and nodding at the class.

Daichi stood, stretching out his legs and looking over at Oikawa, who had drifted off slightly, leaning back in his chair. Prodding his cheek, Daichi looked to Iwaizumi, on the opposite side of the sleeping setter, for help.

“Oi, Shittykawa, get up,” Iwaizumi huffed, kicking at the chair leg to send Oikawa sprawling forward as his arms hit the desk.

“Iwa-chan, that wasn’t nice,” Oikawa whined, glaring over at his (totally not) boyfriend.

“C’mon, I wanna get back before it starts snowing again,” Daichi sighed.

The three of them gathered their notes and headed out of the classroom, ready to get home but not quite ready to face the brittle cold.

Oikawa sat in the front seat, Iwaizumi dozing off in the back as Daichi navigated through snow-blocked roads and after-class traffic, and switched the radio from one pop song to the next, singing along to _every last one_.

“How do you have time to know all of these?” Daichi mumbled.

“Because, Sawamura, this is an _art_. Like memorizing volleyball plays. But with a lot more Nicki Minaj.”

“Didn’t know volleyball plays involved Nicki Minaj at all.”

“Maybe _yours_ don’t, but some of us aren’t _boring_.”

Daichi scoffed, rolling his eyes as they pulled into their dorm parking lot. He felt much better after a nap and a good lunch, and had almost forgotten about the previous night completely.

 _Almost_ being the key word.

Oikawa hopped out of the elevator as it opened the doors to their floor, dragging Iwaizumi down the hall with him.

Daichi shook his head as he walked, smiling to himself as Oikawa tripped over the carpet, causing Iwaizumi to have to try and catch him, but leading to both of them in a tangled mess on the floor.

“Iwa-chan, you were supposed to _catch_ me!”

“I didn’t plan on falling, dumbass.”

“Oikawa, what have you done _now_ -”

Daichi stopped walking as he heard another voice, head looking up to see Suga, in all his beautiful glory, standing at the end of the hall in a sweatshirt and _unlawfully_ short shorts.

“Oh, hi Daichi,” Suga said slowly, looking anywhere but Daichi’s face.

Daichi nodded, not wanting to ruin this evening as well with his insensitivity.

“Oikawa, Iwaizumi, can you give Daichi and I a minute please?” Suga said calmly as the two clambered onto their feet, brushing each other off.

Iwaizumi nodded, dragging Oikawa away before he could say anything, and shutting the door behind him as Suga took a few steps closer to Daichi.

“Daichi, could we talk about last night?”

Daichi took a slow breath, then nodded.

“I just want you to know, I’m not mad. I’m alright, I was just a little tired last night, and I forget about my scars, so when you mentioned them, I got a little… scared,” Suga said carefully.

Daichi nodded. “Yeah, I’m still sorry, though. I wasn’t really thinking,” he mumbled, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“But, so you know, the scars, they’re not from lung surgery. I didn’t mean to lie to you, and I can’t tell you right now, but they’re from something else. I’ll tell you when I’m more comfortable with them, I promise. It’s nothing with you, I’m still uneasy about them. It’s why I went really late for a shower,” Suga explained, stopping a few feet from Daichi.

“Sorry,” Daichi murmured.

Suga smiled, and reached a hand out. “It’s alright, I promise. And I’m really sorry if you spent last night worried over this, I wish I would have caught you before you ran off,” Suga sighed, “Are we alright? I really don’t want to end our relationship.”

At the mention of a relationship, Daichi’s eyes whirred up to meet Suga’s, and Daichi felt his heart skip a beat.

It was _really_ unfair how attractive Suga was.

“Yeah, we’re good,” Daichi nodded, giving Suga a blushing smile.

“That’s awesome. Hey, wanna stop over at the Horned Owl for a coffee sometime? Maybe next week or so? They have a really good seasonal latte that I’ve been thinking about trying, but I haven’t been able to stop over.”

Without thinking, Daichi nodded, and for once, Daichi was glad with how his instincts had caused him to react.

“Sure, it’s a date.”

Feeling his heart drop, Daichi mentally smacked himself.

He was a little too soon to say that he hadn’t made a buffoon out of himself in front of Suga.

Then, Suga gave him the brightest, most stunning smile Daichi had ever seen, and, with a laugh, sighed, “Alright. I’ll get your number from Iwaizumi and text you.”

Daichi nodded, and they went into their separate dorms, Suga still giving Daichi a 1000 watt smile as he shut the door.

After a few seconds, Daichi collapsed against the door, burying his face in his hands and grinning.

He had a _date_ with _Suga_.

Daichi was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so who's ready for a nice, happy date scene after this


	5. so maybe our cupid has dark, messy hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga is so, so great, and Daichi is so, so gay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this is the playlist i've made while writing mawgb, but it's good for listening while reading, too](http://8tracks.com/augustphoenix/maybe-s-all-we-got-baby)

_Daichi was suffocating._

_He was living a lie, hiding everything he was, pretending to be something that his parents truly believed he was._

_His mother had been so happy, too happy, when he brought Michimiya to his house for the first time, beginning the web of lies that would protect him. Or would at least stop the fear until it became unavoidable._

_Michimiya had brought it up a few weeks before, just after he stumbled to her house, sobbing and hiccupping, one dark night, begging for her forgiveness for something he thought was wrong._

_Kuroo’s parents had grounded him when he told them. Every night that week, Daichi could hear screaming and crying from his house, and he so wanted to run over and help, but he would have faced the same punishment for defending him._

_Michimiya held him close, promising that he had done nothing wrong, that she still loved him, that she wouldn’t tell, that she was the_ same.

 _And she had been the only thing to keep his parents from dragging the truth out of him, acting the part of his high school sweetheart in front of them, while being his confidante behind their backs, while being his advisor in his_ actual _relationship with the dark-haired boy from across the street._

_It’d lasted through the end of the school year, though every stolen kiss and hidden smile passed between Daichi and Kuroo was another lie that Daichi kept, a knife sliding through him, telling him that he was betraying his parents for not telling him._

_They raised him. They’d paid for everything. They did everything parents were supposed to do._

_Shouldn’t he tell them?_

_But what if they got mad? What if they tore him to pieces, leaving Kuroo and Kenma alone to face the bitter cold of the world around them? What if they kept him, hidden, never letting him see anyone, not even Michimiya? What if they stole away everything they’d given him and left him for dead?_

_He couldn’t have told them during volleyball, they’d pull him off the team. He couldn’t say anything during exams, it’d be too much for him to handle. He couldn’t say it before graduation or they would’ve dropped their support for college in seconds._

_But now, as he stood in his empty room, he knew he had to tell them. He would be off to college, where they couldn’t touch him, and after he’d gotten a job to be able to have a fallback net if they disowned him, he couldn’t be touched._

_And if he didn’t show up today, people would look for him. Kuroo and Kenma would tear the world apart for him. Michimiya would be at his parents’ throats in seconds._

_Daichi took a deep breath, sighing out slowly, dragging out this last moment of secrecy._

_For once, he felt a strange confidence in what had caused him misery for so long._

_Turning on his heel, he walked out of his room to the living room, where his mother and father sat in silence, their eyes dark and cold._

_“Mother, father, I need to tell you something.”_

_His mother’s dark eyes flicked to his face, squinting slightly, and his father merely snorted, refusing to look up at his only son._

_“Don’t think we don’t know already, Daichi.”_

_Daichi’s heart slowed and he could feel his mind start to blur in anxiety._

_“The fact that you would lie to us this whole time is almost worse than this, Daichi.”_

_His father’s mouth barely opened when he spoke, his eyes still staring at the wall._

_“I’m gay. I always have been, and- and you can’t change that,” Daichi blurted out, curling his fists tightly to his side._

_“Daichi, it’s time to go.”_

_“Mother, I just told you something big, are you just ignoring-”_

_“Daichi. Your girlfriend is outside waiting for you. She’ll be taking you up instead.”_

_“She’s not my- did you hear me at all-”_

_“Daichi, if you do not leave this house right now, we will never let you return.”_

_His father had finally looked at him, only to give him a glare so cold it made Daichi’s knees weak._

_“Daichi, go.”_

_“Mom, please, I just want-”_

_“Son, if you keep bothering your mother-”_

_“Fine! I’m going! I’ll- I’ll leave you to rot in this house! I won’t need to come back!” Daichi barked, his confidence growing as his mind blanked out of complete panic._

_“Get out of my house right now-”_

_“Fuck you, dad. Fuck. You.”_

_With a slam of the door, Daichi was cut off. Michimiya waited outside in her car, a knowing look in her eyes, and a frown on her face._

_Daichi had nothing._

Gasping for breath, Daichi bolted up in his bed, grabbing at the blankets.

Living through it once had been enough. Having to drift through the memory every once in a while after a bad couple of days was horrid, and always left him feeling empty.

Daichi shook his head, hot tears dripping onto his blanket. His throat felt scorched, and he figured that he’d either been crying or screaming in his sleep.

For the rest of the dorm’s sake, he hoped it was not the latter.

The door to his bedroom poked open and Kuroo stepped in, a solemn look on his face.

“It’s okay, I’m alright, just a dream,” Daichi coughed, waving his hand.

Kuroo raised an eyebrow and walked over slowly. His face was still lax from sleep, and his eyes were teary from being woken up quickly.

“Daichi, I’ve known you too long to be fooled like that. Hell, I doubt anyone would be fooled by that lie regardless of whether they knew you well enough.”

Daichi rubbed at his eyes and shook his head, “Just go back to bed, I’ll be okay.”

“Dude, it’s nearly six, if you are telling me that I can go back to bed and get up in an hour without looking like death, that’s an even worse lie,” Kuroo smirked, turning and slumping down at the foot of Daichi’s bed.

“ _You_ signed up for the morning class, not me,” Daichi sighed.

Kuroo chuckled softly. “Go back to sleep, asshole. I’m not going anywhere, don’t worry.”

Daichi looked at Kuroo, the light leaking through the doorway painting his face to be golden, his bird’s nest of hair a black mess, outlined in faint light.

“Kenma?”

“Went home tonight. He’s got some tournament with Inuoka and Lev until tomorrow morning, so he’s gonna be back in a day, but I made him swear to sleep and eat enough to live until he comes back.”

Daichi nodded, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, and exhaled slowly.

“So you’re just gonna sit there?”

“I’m here to stay, captain. Until class, but I’ll be back after that, don’t worry. Early Psychology is fun and all, but I gotta say being home beats it out. Especially if I get the pleasure of watching you drool in your sleep.”

Daichi grunted, too tired to bicker, and scooted down to lie under the covers again, Kuroo’s legs stretching across his shins, and held his hand out to Kuroo.

“Night, Daichi,” Kuroo smiled, taking Daichi’s hand.

“G’night, Tetsurou.”

* * *

When Daichi woke up, it was almost half past eight, meaning that Kuroo would be home soon from his morning class.

Unfortunately, it also meant that Daichi had class in less than two hours.

Daichi slid out from under the covers, standing and hissing at the cold floor. He tip-toed to his dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans and a hoodie.

Changing as quickly as he could in order to avoid being cold for too long, Daichi grabbed a pair of socks and hopped into them on his way back to the bed to grab his phone.

The only notification he had was a picture from Kuroo of him and Bokuto in their class, sitting behind a tower of textbooks that seemed to be leaning towards them a little too much.

It probably fell on them, and if Kuroo came home with a black eye, Daichi would probably pass out from laughing so hard.

Suga had been texting him nearly every morning with a cute ‘good morning’ or even  _worse_ , a sleepy picture with him smiling and flashing a peace sign, not unlike his roommate’s habit of doing so.

But waking up to bright hazel eyes and pink,  _ridiculously_  pink, lips drawn into a smile was something he looked forward to every night that he couldn’t sleep.

They’d decided to go out for coffee in the next few days, and Suga was supposed to tell him today which day would work best for him, which was another reason Daichi was waiting (im)patiently for a text.

It wasn’t that late, though, and Suga did have a lot of morning classes, as Kuroo had mentioned.

Shuffling out of his room and into the kitchen, Daichi grabbed a banana and a granola yogurt, the only healthy things that lasted any length of time in their dorm.

Kenma only ate fruits in pie form, especially apples, and Kuroo tended to actually make a full, healthy breakfast, keeping Daichi’s little morning snack safe in the kitchen, away from the grabby hands of his roommates.

Leaning against the counter next to their fridge, Daichi sighed before starting to eat, bored with his morning already.

As he scraped the last of his yogurt out and gulped it down, someone knocked on their door.

Tossing the carton and banana peel into the trash, Daichi hurried to the door.

“Sorry, I’m here,” he said as he turned the door open.

“Good morning, Daichi!” Suga smiled, melting Daichi’s heart, both with his sunny disposition and the coffees in his hands.

_Was Suga going to start saying good morning in person now?_

Then Daichi saw the tall, messy-haired figure behind Suga and knew that a certain  _someone_  was behind this.

“Morning, Suga,” Daichi mumbled, feeling his face turn red as Suga stared at him with those terribly gorgeous eyes, “Wanna come in?”

“Well, Captain, it  _is_  my dorm, and Suga  _is_  our guest,” Kuroo drawled snarkily, nudging Suga inside and shutting the door behind them.

“Kuroo caught me after class, and we stopped by the Owl before coming back. He said you liked caramel lattés, outside of your test-prep triple espressos, of course.”

“Yup, lattes with lots and lots of  _sugar_ ,” Kuroo smirked, purposefully dropping the end of the word and winking at Daichi from behind Suga.

Shooting his roommate a glare, Daichi took the latte that Suga offered with a thanks.

“So I’ve gotta bounce, Kenma’s done with his game thing but I doubt he’s had breakfast, so I’ll be back with a tired but well-fed Kenma later. You two have fun,” Kuroo winked, leaving faster than Daichi could even roll his eyes at his roommate’s terrible attempt at subtlety.

 “Uh, wanna sit down for a bit?” Daichi asked, gesturing to the couch.

Suga beamed, nodding, “Sure. I don’t have any more classes today, but I do have to go and help a friend with a project in a couple of hours, but you’ve got me until then.”

They sat facing each other on the little couch, cradling their warm drinks in their hands, Suga sitting cross-legged, and Daichi with one leg tucked under himself and the other hanging off the cushion lazily.

“How was class?” Daichi asked.

“Eh, it was alright. It’s still a morning class, though, and I had a night class last night, so I only got a few hours of sleep,” Suga yawned, emphasizing his point.

Daichi’s heart panged as Suga blinked away sleepy tears and smiled softly at him, and he swore he was going to thank Kuroo at  _least_  fifty times when he got home later.

“Do you have any classes later today?” Suga said, “I noticed that you usually aren’t too busy on Tuesdays.”

“Yeah, just one in about an hour. But I have to help Kuroo’s friend with some training or something today after that. Though he didn’t mention what kind of training it was, he just said that it was absolutely necessary that I be there,” Daichi scoffed.

Suga hummed. “Well, I’m sure Kuroo only means the best.”

Daichi stifled a laugh by taking a sip of coffee and thought that if Suga was living with Kuroo, he’d know well enough how much trouble Kuroo could be.

“Oh! I forgot to tell you. I’m open on Thursday after three if you want to run over to the Owl.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s good, I, uh, thought you were considering this as the coffee date,” Daichi muttered.

Suga shook his head, “It can be  _a_  coffee date, but I still wanted to go out with you. Er, go somewhere, with you.”

Daichi’s chest expanded at hearing Suga say, even if he might not mean it that way, but to actually say he wanted to go out with Daichi.  _Suga_  wanted to go out with  _Daichi._

Draining the last of his coffee, Daichi grinned, “Oh, cool, yeah, Thursday would be great!”

“So would three-thirty be good, then?”

_Any time would be good for you, Suga._

“Yeah, so, would you wanna do anything else after? Like maybe come back and see a movie or something?” Daichi said hopefully.

“As long as it isn’t about aliens, definitely. I have gotten roped into watching so many of Oikawa’s movies, I can’t even  _think_  about aliens without cringing,” Suga sighed.

“Oh, well, I think Kuroo’s got a lot of comedies, none of the alien sort, though, so we should be good,” Daichi laughed.

They continued talking, going from movies to their roommates, even touching on the subject of how terribly Iwaizumi and Oikawa were trying to hide their relationship.

“You should see how they are if I come home early. I can  _see_  that they’ve been messing around, like they’re all sprawled out on the couch and red-faced, but they make the  _worst_  excuses. ‘Just pillow-fighting, Suga’ or ‘Oikawa saw a rat so we were catching it in the blankets but it’s gone now’. They’re hopeless.”

Daichi was cut off when his phone chimed, an alarm reminding him that he had to get to class in ten minutes.

“Oh, gosh, sorry, but I have to get going to class,” Daichi said, hurrying to stand.

Suga waved his hand, “Oh, it’s fine. I should probably get some studying done before I go this afternoon, anyway. With Keiji, he can take a whole  _day_  for a single shoot. Hopefully he only needs me for an hour, though.”

Daichi helped him up with a hand, then led him to the door before running to grab his notebook. As he gathered himself to leave, he wondered.

_Keiji, where have I heard that name before?_

* * *

Checking his watch as he closed his notebook, Daichi sighed. His class had started late and he’d decided to stay back for an extra fifteen minutes as the teacher finished up their lesson.

But now he had five minutes to cross campus to meet Kuroo at the field, where his friend was waiting for whatever training Daichi was supposed to be helping him with.

Daihci hurried out of the classroom, pulling his phone out to call Kuroo.

Waiting as the dial tone ended and he heard the click of Kuroo picking up, he hissed, “Sorry, running a little late, be there in five.”

“It’s cool, Akaashi hasn’t even gotten here yet. Oh, what are you wearing?”

“Whaat kind of question is that, Kuroo?” Daichi grumbled as he walked into the parking lot.

“Like are you formal casual, or like lonely Saturday night with a plate of pizza rolls casual?”

“I don’t know, I’ve got that blue sweater that you gave me a few years ago and some jeans, and I’ve got my black jacket in the car,” Daichi huffed, pressing the unlock button on his key fob.

Kuroo hummed, “That should be fine, bring the jacket though. Akaashi said it didn’t have to be super dressed up, but that’d probably be a nice touch.”

“What kind of training is this?” Daichi mumbled as he buckled into his seat.

“The photo shoot kind of training. That I happened to forget to mention.”

“Seriously, Kuroo? Why am  _I_  doing a photo shoot?”

“Keiji wants a nice-looking dude and he already took pictures of me for his last project, so I was like, ‘Daichi’s face isn’t  _that_  bad, though I’m sure shots of his ass would get better points-”

Ignoring Kuroo’s comment, Daichi asked, “Keiji? Akaashi’s name is Keiji?”

“Yeah, man, how  _don’t_  you know that? I know he’s a year younger but he’s our reserve setter. Captain, keep it together.”

Feeling the pieces click together, Daichi groaned. “Kuroo, are you meddling with something?”

“Whatever could you mean, dear roommate of mine?”

Turning onto the long street that led to the snow-blanketed field, Daichi sighed.

“Okay, so maybe I didn’t mention something, but it’s not a bad something. You’ll be happy, really.”

“Does Akaashi know that you’re using him for your evil tactics?”

“Akaashi  _suggested_  it. He knows Suga’s been in need of some manly Daichi time.”

As Daichi got closer to the field, he could see Kuroo standing at the gate. He waved as Daichi passed him to get into the parking lot.

Hanging up, Daichi turned to car off with a grunt, only annoyed that Kuroo hadn’t told him about this plan.

Unbuckling and sliding out of his car, Daichi was greeted with a big hug from Kuroo as he shut the door.

“Please forgive me, man, but I just know you’d look great on camera with Suga and Akaashi  _really_  needed two people who looked cute together and you two are almost sickeningly sweet,” Kuroo rambled, pressing his face into Daichi’s hair.

“Fine, you’re not in trouble, asshole,” Daichi grumbled, “Just tell me next time. It’s not like I wouldn’t have done it.”

“But you’d have been all nervous about it all day, and you’re already stressed, so now you get to spend time with Suga twice without having to worry about it before,” Kuroo scoffed.

“Okay, okay. Now get off, you big cat. You’re gonna knock me over.”

“But I never get to hold you anymore, Daichi, and once you get your new boyfriend I won’t get  _any_  snuggle time. Kenma and I agreed that your snuggles are like the _best_ , and we miss you, dude. Even today, when I dropped him off at the dorm before heading over here, he said he just wanted to curl up with us and sleep for fourteen hours. You're the best little cuddle buddy, man,” Kuroo whined, rubbing his cheek on Daichi’s forehead.

“Oh my god, you’re so embarrassing, you big lug, let me go,” Daichi whispered, a smile creeping onto his face, “If you let me go now, we can watch a movie later and  _maybe_  you can snuggle with me-”

“But Daichiiii-”

“Daichi? Why are you here?”

Daichi and Kuroo’s heads whipped to look at where the voice came from, met with a puzzled art major in an absurdly adorable green sweater.

“Uh, hi, Suga,” Daichi mumbled.

Kuroo dropped his arms and turned to face Suga, a brilliant smile on his face. “Oh, Suga, I forgot to mention to you this morning, but Akaashi asked Daichi to help with the shoot, too.”

Suga’s eyebrows rose, but then he smiled. “Oh, that’s great! I’ve only helped Akaashi out once before, and I had a few others with me, so I was worried about this being a solo thing, but if you’re here, Daichi, it’ll all be good.”

_It’s already way better than good, Suga._

“Um, yeah, he took some shots of the team last year but I’ve never done any other photography stuff with him,” Daichi muttered, looking down.

“Oh, sorry, I’m late, guys!” Akaashi said, jogging towards them, camera bag hanging from his shoulder, and Bokuto hanging off of his right hand with the same gooey look they always had when they held hands.

Akaashi, as always, looked like he’d just hopped off a runway, wearing a blue sweater similar to Daichi’s, but making it look a million time better. His dark jeans clung to every curve of his legs, legs that Kuroo and Bokuto claimed to be 'the Iwaizumi's arms of legs'.

Bokuto looked especially nice, as well, without a single neon-yellow colored article of clothing, meaning that Akaashi had probably picked out an outfit for him this morning, as he did sometimes when Bokuto was getting back up from a downswing.

Daichi hadn’t ever pried when Bokuto would be out of practice for a couple of days, like when Akaashi had called off last week for the two of them, and Daichi was sure Akaashi appreciated his understanding.

About a year ago, Kuroo had explained to Daichi that Bokuto had their ups and downs, and that they were really hard on themself about them, especially when they were coming back from a deeper down. He’d said that sometimes Bokuto would need more than a week, but Daichi never pushed, even before Kuroo had talked to him. He knew what it felt like to feel so empty and disconnected that you can’t even get up, and for Bokuto to be constantly working through that and more, Daichi held only respect for them.

Bokuto looked happy, though Daichi knew that they had been getting good at hiding things more easily, but if Akaashi was comfortable enough to bring them today, Daichi figured they were doing better than last week.

Wearing the dress that Kuroo had gotten them for their last birthday, a chocolate brown, knitted sweater dress that hung to their thighs where dark blue jeans covered the rest of their legs, Bokuto made the rest of them look like slackers, even Akaashi to a point, with how gorgeous they looked. Their hair was styled up as usual, but there were a few dark pins in the front, holding strays in place. They had some sort of dark, smoky makeup on their eyes, making the gold rings of their eyes pop, and a swipe of peach lip gloss, and, really, Bokuto looked like they should’ve been the one in the photo shoot.

“You’re fine, Akaashi. And you’re  _looking_  fine, Kou!” Kuroo beamed, winking.

Bokuto’s smile widened and their eyes lit up. “You’re looking great, too, Tetsurou!”

Letting go of Akaashi’s hand, Bokuto leapt over to give Kuroo the same bear hug that Kuroo had just mauled Daichi with.

Suga smiled fondly at them, and Daichi met his eyes, smiling back.

“So, Daichi, Suga,” Akaashi started, letting the other two have their moment, “The theme of my shoot is supposed to be ‘warm’.”

“And you’re assigned this in the middle of winter?” Suga laughed.

Akaashi nodded, a slight smile on his lips, “My teacher’s a sucker for irony. Once we had to do a ‘peaceful’ theme during finals. As you can imagine, finding  _anyone_  here who looked peaceful was a little tricky.”

Daichi laughed shortly, then asked, “So, are you going to tell us to pose in a certain way?”

Akaashi shrugged, “Since you two have never shot together, probably, but if you have enough of a connection, I might just let you two go around and snap some shots. I’ll show you them before I turn them in, though, just in case you see one that you wouldn’t want to be published.”

They nodded, and Akaashi pulled his camera out, adjusting some things as he spoke.

“So if you two could just behave like you would if you were dating, since this is all about emotion, and I need you two to look comfortable enough with each other, it’d be helpful. You don’t have to do anything really intimate, and please speak up if you feel uncomfortable.”

Daichi saw the glint in Akaashi’s eyes as he looked down at the camera and Kuroo’s earlier explanation made sense. Akaashi was definitely sly enough to have suggested this meeting with the two of them, in fact, Daichi didn’t doubt that he was worse than Kuroo just from how  _innocent_  he looked, while Kuroo seemed to always have that shit-eating grin when he was up to something.

“Akaashi, we’re gonna run to the Owl for some hot chocolate while you guys start out. Do you want one?” Bokuto asked, turning their head from where they hung off of Kuroo.

“Sure. Thank you, Koutarou.”

Bokuto’s face lit up and they let go of Kuroo to give Akaashi a peck on the cheek before the two of them ran off down the street together.

 “I’ll get something for you two, too. Have fun!” Kuroo teased as they turned the corner, racing each other across the street.

Daichi rolled his eyes at his roommate’s antics (how many had he even had to deal with today  _alone_ , he wondered) and turned back to Akaashi.

“So, the first thing I wanted to try was something involving your winter clothes, like mittens and hats. I see you have gloves, Suga. Daichi, do you have anything?”

“Uh, I have my jacket, but I think that’s it.”

“That’s alright. Here, let’s go over here, next to these trees,” Akaashi said, leading them down the street to a cluster of pine trees.

“Daichi, can you take your jacket off and start to put it on Suga?” Akaashi asked, backing up a few steps and fumbling with his camera.

“Oh, sure.”

Daichi slid it off, not really needing it anyway, and turned to Suga.

“Here,” Daichi said slowly, as Suga held his arms out. He guided Suga’s arm through the sleeve, then smoothed the jacket against his back so he could pull the other sleeve on, Akaashi’s camera clicking away as they moved.

Daichi reached around Suga to pull the zipper up, his arms wrapped around Suga’s waist as if this was something that he did every day, not something that was making his heart flutter like he was falling through thin air.

_Don’t crush him, Daichi, don’t crush him._

To his surprise, Suga wrapped his hands around Daichi’s, leaning back to rest his head against the crook of Daichi’s neck.

“You’re really warm, Daichi,” Suga whispered.

“Well, you’re pretty hot, too,” Daichi bumbled, blushing as he felt the words tumble out of his mouth.

_Way to go, Daichi._

Suga giggled, actually  _giggled_ , the cutest noise Daichi’d ever heard, and Daichi gave him a sheepish smile.

“Spin me.”

“What?”

“Spin me around like in a dance. It’ll look cute. All warm and happy.”

Daichi grunted, letting go of one of Suga hands and raising the other above his head, pulling him around in a loop.

Suga twirled with him, a bright look in his eyes and an even brighter smile on his face. Sun filtering through the trees caught on his eyes, his hair, his lips, and Daichi stopped breathing.

_Sawamura Daichi, you are so, undeniably, unbelievably gay._

Grabbing on to Daichi’s shoulders, Suga steadied himself, shifting on his feet in time with Akaashi’s rapid-fire clicking, and looped his arms together, pulling them together.

“You look really nice in blue, Daichi,” Suga whispered, pressing their foreheads together.

“You look really nice in everything, Suga,” Daichi sighed, ignoring that that was the  _cheesiest_  thing he’d  _ever_  said.

Suga’s smile fell and he looked at Daichi with wide, starry eyes like Daichi was a miracle given to him, not a big, bumbling ball of nerves and hiccupped words.

“Thank you,” Suga breathed, letting his head fall to rest in the crook of Dachi’s neck, and closed his eyes.

Daichi looked over at Akaashi for instruction, and he could swear that Akaashi winked to him before taking a last shot, then sighing and dropping the camera.

“Who wants to make snow angels?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so how about that date huh?? and there's more to come obv??  
> just you all wait for the cheesy dates i've got up my sleeves it's gonna be wonderful  
> also, [come talk to me on tumblr about these volleybbs](http://www.demiasahi.tumblr.com)


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